(The Center Square) – A Norwegian company behind New York’s largest offshore wind farm is taking the Trump administration to court over its decision to suspend the $5 billion clean energy project.
In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, Norway-based Equinor challenges the U.S. Department of the Interior’s order last month suspending a permit for the Empire Wind 1 project and asks a federal judge to grant a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume while the legal fight plays out.
Equinor said the stop-work order is “unlawful” and threatens the progress of ongoing work with significant implications for the project, which is nearly 60% complete. The company said the injunction is necessary to “avoid additional commercial and financing impacts that are likely to occur should the order remain effective.”
The Empire Wind 1 project is expected to deliver 810 megawatts of power into the state, enough to power 500,000 homes, according to Equinor. The $5 billion project was briefly halted by the Interior Department earlier this year, but the federal agency later lifted the stop work order following discussions between President Donald Trump and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
But Trump has pledged to end federal support for wind and other clean energy projects as he focuses on boosting fossil fuel production as part of broader efforts to improve the nation’s energy independence. He and other Republicans argue that the higher energy costs paid by many in the Northeast are being driven in part by the embrace of clean energy policies.
Two weeks ago, the Interior Department announced it is halting federal leases for Empire and other large-scale offshore wind projects currently under construction. Besides Empire, the halt included Sunrise Wind, Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind off the New England coast and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum cited unspecified national security risks posed by the offshore wind turbines in pausing federal permits for the projects, but said the move is aimed at “protecting” the American people.
The Democratic governors representing New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut issued a joint statement condemning the move, saying it “defies logic” and will cost jobs and ultimately drive up costs for energy consumers. Other companies behind the offshore wind projects have also filed similar lawsuits, seeking to block the order.
The Interior Department’s move also came two weeks after a federal judge blocked a Jan. 20 Trump order that halted several offshore wind energy projects along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to New Jersey, ruling that the federal government “cannot simply halt federal approvals of offshore wind permits arbitrarily.”
In a statement, Equinor said Empire’s project managers have “coordinated closely with numerous federal officials on national security reviews” since the federal lease was issued in 2017, and “has complied with relevant national security related requirements identified as part of the regulatory process.”
“In addition, Empire meets regularly with officials charged with oversight of security issues for the project, including weekly meetings with the U.S. Coast Guard and other marine first responders,” the company said. “Empire and its contractors are complying with the order, while continuing activities required in order to prevent impacts to health, safety and the environment.”